Knowing your sewing self

The Ancient Greeks believed in the philosophy of "know yourself' to the point they ingraved it above the entrance to the Delphic Oracle.

And to that I would add, "know your sewing self." My sewing self hates stash but loves fabric bargains so fabric gifts, charity shop fabrics and sale fabrics are all fair game: only I have to start using them up before they sit around glaring at me.

I also hate having sewing lists. It's up there with too much stash. The destination becomes more important than the journey: I start wanting to tick things off, get things finished, I'm dreaming about the next project while still working on the current project.That would be ok if I enjoyed it, but I don't. I end up feeling flustered and harried. And in the words of our very own modern day oracle Dr Phil, "if it's not workin' for you, don't do it."

So while I toyed with the idea of giving the latest Pattern Review contest a try, I knew it wasn't for me. 4 garments in a month, co-ordinated to go with an existing garment. Great idea, sewing things that go together, are planned and purposeful, and designed to extend your current wardrobe.

But I cannot sew 4 garments in a month and enjoy it. I said to TMB, "if I enter this contest, I'm going to need you to look after Benjy a lot in the weekend." His reply? "What doesn't kill you only makes you angry and resentful." So that was the end of that. Anyway, sewing 4 garments to a plan is just another form of oppression to me and having a one month time limit elevates it to torture.

But I liked the idea of entering one of their contests because it would be fun, and connect me to other sewers, which is what I love most about reading other people's sewing blogs - I love the sewing journey, no matter whose it is.

So I see the PERFECT sewing competition for me is coming up for me in June. The "ugly fabric" contest.

I have the perfect fabric: a charity shop "bargain." A piece of Thai silk in mint condition. It is a batik scarf, in garish colours and a bold sub tropical flowers print. It says to me "hawaiian shirt for a man whose sexual preference collocates with the word "flamboyant." I strongly suspect that some woman bought it for her mother-in-law.

But how could I leave a brand new scarf a yard wide (90cms square) with hand rolled hems, and hand painted/batiked detail languishing in the scarfs barrel?

First off I tried to make it into one of those over aprons. I pinned in darts through the bust and waist, but the proportions were all wrong. So then I looked for a pattern and found a handkerchief top, which used a yard of fabric. I found a review for it on Pattern review that started like this, " this pattern worked perfectly for my broad shoulders and small bust" and read no further.



Then I found this pattern, Simplicity 2698, a project runway skirt. I could cut the scarf into wide panels for the view which uses a contrasting bottom, pick out one of the colours to use above and make a simple knit jersey top in something plain, very plain, for the top. And then I would have my entry into the "ugly fabric competition."



If anyone else has any ideas, I welcome suggestions. I just have to enter this competition.